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BRUCKLESS, Ireland: Many visitors to Ireland make the trip in search of heritage, tracking down ancestors in obscure villages and wandering through ancient churches, pursuing the dream of a verdant, pastoral homeland. This year, Ireland is promoting this pastime with The Gathering, a tourism initiative of some 2,500 local events and ancestral reunions calling the Irish diaspora back.

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It's barren, it's beautiful and its very name, Connemara, conjures images of romance. In Dublin, before leaving for western Ireland with my tour guide Irwin Johnston, more than one Irishman assured me of its attractions with "Ah, to be sure, Connemara, now that’s the place of dreams."